CPSC Works With Industry To Remove Drawstring Hazard

Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced today a major cooperative effort with manufacturers and retailers to protect America's children by removing drawstrings from the hoods and necks of children's clothing. Drawstrings on children's jackets, sweatshirts, a hooded T-shirt, and a cape, which caught on playground equipment, an escalator, a fence, cribs, and other products, were associated with at least 12 deaths and 27 near-strangulations since 1985.

CPSC Chairman Ann Brown said, "This collaborative effort between the commission and industry epitomizes government for the '90s. We asked industry to make the clothing safer, and they agreed to make the change, all in record time."

The deaths and injuries, which involved children between the ages of 15 months and 11 years, occurred all over the country in larger cities like Washington, Indianapolis, and Ann Arbor, Mich. and small communities like Guymon, Okla., Peters Creek, Alaska, and Elkhorn, Iowa.

The CPSC is working with industry to change children's clothing to prevent entanglement and deaths. The following manufacturers and retailers have agreed to modify or eliminate drawstrings from hoods and necks of children's clothing. Some will make changes this fall. Others are eliminating the hood and neck drawstrings from their spring or fall '95 lines:

• Haddad Apparel Group, New York: Mighty Mac, Bugle Boy, Hush Puppies, Weebok, Winning Goal-NHL, Touchdown, Club-NFL, Billy the Kid, Barbie for Girls, Barney the Dinosaur, Mickey & Co., and others.
• Nike, Inc., Beaverton, Ore.: Nike windwear, jackets, outerwear, sweatshirts, hooded T- shirts.
• Oshkosh B'Gosh, Inc., Oshkosh, Wis.: Oshkosh B'Gosh, Baby B'Gosh, Genuine Kids.
• M&L International, Chicago.: OshKosh B'Gosh children's outerwear, Weather Tamer.
• Pyramid Handbags, New York: Hooded Raincoats with Walt Disney's The Lion King, Aladdin, Beauty and The Beast, The Little Mermaid, The NBA, Biker Mice from Mars, and others.
• Baby Guess/ Guess Kids, Los Angeles: sportswear.
• Angelique Imports, New York: Little Angels.
• Columbia Sportswear Co., Portland, Ore.: manufacturer of skiwear, outerwear and sportswear.
• Levi-Strauss & Co., San Francisco: infants, Little Levi's, girls, boys.
• L.L. Bean, Freeport, Maine: L.L.Kid's.
• Walter Jerome Inc., New York: Tidykins, Polara, Rocky Mountain Expedition.
• Toma Outerwear Inc., Seattle: Toma, Field & Stream.
• S. Rothschild & Co., New York: Below Zero, Pro Score, Kute Kiddie, Fieldston, Izzi's Kids, Rothschild.
• Bassett-Walker, Martinsville, Va.: Lee, Riders activewear.
• Imp Originals Inc., New Rochelle, N.Y.: children's coats.
• Hampton Industries, Inc., Kinston, N.C.: J.G. Hook, Campus, Kaynee, Le Tigre boys clothing.
• Cherry Tree, Providence, R.I.: Cherry Tree outerwear, skiwear, and sportswear.
• Hanna Andersson, Portland, Ore.: children's cotton clothing through direct mail order.
• Mercantile Stores Company Inc., Fairfield, Ohio: retail stores in the south and midwest.
• Lands' End Inc., Dodgeville, Wis.: children's clothing through direct mail order.

Great Britain passed a regulation banning strings on hoods in 1976, following three strangulation deaths of children from drawstrings.

Today's actions will eliminate the strings from more than 20 million garments annually in the future. However, for garments recently purchased or currently in homes, the CPSC urges that parents and caregivers immediately:

• Remove hood and neck drawstrings from children's jackets, sweatshirt and similar types of clothing; or
• Sew a seam through the drawstring at the middle of the hood and neck so neither end can pull out and catch onto an object.
• Cut all string ends as short as needed to close the garment.

Thelma Sibley, the mother of five-year-old Nancy Sibley who was strangled by her hood drawstring on her elementary school slide in January, joined Chairman Brown today to emphasize the danger. Sibley would like parents to know that this is not a freak accident; it could happen to any child and can and should be prevented.

Other manufacturers and retailers are developing plans for changing all their designs so that the Commission can add these companies to the list. Manufacturers and retailers should call the Commission's Compliance staff at 301-504-7913 to join this voluntary safety effort.